New iPad can last 25 hours as LTE hotspot

When testing out the new iPad's battery life, AnandTech discovered that the device could actually achieve 25.3 hours on a single charge when used as a personal hotspot with the power-hungry Retina display turned off. This is about 5 times longer than the LTE MiFi hotspots from Novatel and Samsung. The Verizon LTE iPad model, however, is the only one at the moment that has this feature enabled.

The new iPad may be getting the most attention for its dazzling Retina display but the massive new battery inside deserves plenty of praise as well. Apple has beefed up the battery from 6,944 mAh to 11,666 mAh, almost doubling the capacity while managing to keep the new iPad's physical size the same as its predecessor.

With the Retina display turned off, Anandtech was able to use the new iPad as a personal hotspot for 25.3 hours on a single charge. The Verge performed its own test based on this claim, finding that the new iPad was indeed able to last more than 24 hours if the notifications and push email accounts were disabled in addition to the display being turned off

But in overall battery performance, the new iPad doesn't appear to last as long as the iPad 2. The much larger battery not only has to fuel the Retina display but also a new processor with four times the graphics processing muscle. Additionally, the new iPad seems to last about an hour less when using LTE instead of WiFi.